Try Iain M. Banks. It Culture series is well known and I've found it very entertaining reading with well fleshed out characters and good storyline
Or try Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' and the companion 'Shadow' series (Ender's shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets) All of Card's books tend to focus more on his characters and storyline than on science. He's also written a lot of fantasy, so you might want to check that out. You can read the first chapter of some (all?) of his books on his website.
Anyway, there are tons of good books out there. Just sample here and there and you're bound to find something that suits your taste. And bluntly speaking, there is no such thing as real SF, just different "subgenres". If you find an author whose books you like, to h*ll with your friends and enjoy yourself:-)
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Try Iain M. Banks. It Culture series is well known and I've found it very entertaining reading with well fleshed out characters and good storyline
:-)
Or try Orson Scott Card's 'Ender's Game' and the companion 'Shadow' series (Ender's shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon and Shadow Puppets) All of Card's books tend to focus more on his characters and storyline than on science. He's also written a lot of fantasy, so you might want to check that out. You can read the first chapter of some (all?) of his books on his website.
Anyway, there are tons of good books out there. Just sample here and there and you're bound to find something that suits your taste. And bluntly speaking, there is no such thing as real SF, just different "subgenres". If you find an author whose books you like, to h*ll with your friends and enjoy yourself
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